[naviga:h3]Seminars offered to business owners[/naviga:h3]

Business owners and administrators can attend three free seminars on a variety of topics regarding Unemployment Compensation, employing workers and serving customers with disabilities and veteran issues.

The first session will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 7 at the county Housing and Redevelopment Authority, 114 Woody Drive in the Pullman Center Business Park.

After a networking brunch from 10 to 10:30 a.m., an hourlong session will be held on OVR, PA Career Link and veteran services that benefit employers.

From 11 a.m. to noon, attendees will learn how the Unemployment Compensation appeals process works and how to prepare for the hearing involved.

Jennifer Fisher, the appeals program manager and UC appeals referee from the UC Board of Review will lead a mock hearing.

The second seminar on “onboarding” individuals with disabilities will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at PA CareerLink, 112 Hollywood Drive, Suite 203 in the Pullman Center Business Park.

The final seminar, on veteran employment issues, will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Nov. 9 at the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center, 353 N. Duffy Road.

The seminars are HRCI credit approved.

For more information, email Lori Kennedy at lorkennedy@pa.gov.

[naviga:h3]Butler schools get literacy grant[/naviga:h3]

Dollar General is giving $3,000 to the Butler School District as part of its annual literacy grant program, according to a news release.

Butler’s is the only school district in the county to receive funds from the company, and it is one of 36 organizations in Pennsylvania to receive funding, the company reports. Pennsylvania schools, school districts and education-related nonprofits received $96,000 from the fund this year.

An organization must be within 20 miles of a Dollar General store to receive the cash.

Dollar General started the grant program in 1993 to honor one of its founders, who was “functionally illiterate,” the release states.

Applications for next year’s grants will be available Jan. 2.

The chain of general stores announced grants for 915 organizations nationwide Tuesday, totaling $3.4 million.

[naviga:h3]Best Buy sales up, but outlook gloomy[/naviga:h3]

NEW YORK — Best Buy Co. reported its largest second-quarter sales boost in 15 years on Tuesday, helping to push revenue and profit beyond Wall Street expectations.

Same-store sales, a key measure for retailers, jumped 6 percent during the quarter. But investors shrugged off the results and sent shares lower in premarket trading on a weaker-than-expected forecast for the current quarter.

The company has been struggling to boost sales as it competes with an ever-growing online shopping market.